UNITED NATIONS: Britain must end Julian Assange's 'deprivation of liberty'

A UN panel said on Friday morning that it believes Julian Assange
is being arbitrarily detained.

Following a complaint by the Wikileaks founder in 2014, a UN
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has been investigating his
case.

Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador and has
lived in the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London since 2012 to
avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over allegations of
sex offenses and rape, which he denies.

The Australian publisher maintains that if he goes to Sweden, he
will subsequently be extradited to the US to stand trial for his
work on Wikileaks.

On Thursday,
The BBC reported that the UN panel was going to rule that
Assange has been "arbitrarily detained." The Swedish foreign
ministry has also said the report concludes that Assange is being
arbitrarily detained,
Sky News reported.

And now it's official. The Working Group's head Seong-Phil
Jong said in a statement:"The Working Group on
arbitrary detention considers that the various forms of
deprivation of liberty to which Julian Assange has been subjected
constitute a form of arbitrary detention."

He added: "The working group maintains that the arbitrary
detention of Mr. Assange should be brought to an end, that his
physical integrity and freedom of movement be respected, and that
he should be entitled to an enforceable right to compensation."

We have been consistently clear that Mr Assange has never been
arbitrarily detained by the UK but is, in fact, voluntarily
avoiding lawful arrest by choosing to remain in the Ecuadorian
embassy ... An allegation of rape is still outstanding and a
European Arrest Warrant in place, so the UK continues to have a
legal obligation to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden.

UK police say that if Assange leaves the embassy, he will be
arrested.

Assange's lawyer
told the Associated Press on Thursday that Sweden has
"no other option" but to drop its investigation in light of the
UN panel's decision. However, Sweden is disupting the
ruling.

In a
statement, the Swedish ambassador to the UN said: "Mr.
Assange has chosen, voluntarily, to stay at the Ecuadorian
Embassy and the Swedish authorities have no control over his
decision to stay there. Mr. Assange is free to leave the Embassy
at any point. Thus, he is not deing deprived of his liberty there
due to any decision or action taken by the Swedish authorities."

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has described the UN report as
“ridiculous,” according to ITV. In a statement Hammond also
described Assange as a “fugitive from justice.”

Government spokesman: We reject UN ruling on #Assange - arrest warrant has been issued & we are committed to our obligations in that regard

Some of the allegations facing Assange, 44, were dropped in 2015
because the Swedish statute of limitations expired. However, the
more serious allegations of rape will not expire until 2020 —
meaning that if Swedish prosecutors do not drop their
investigation, and Assange does not surrender himself willingly,
he could remain in the embassy for another four years.

Meanwhile, Assange's health is continuing to deteriorate.
His doctor
says the Wikileaks publisher is in "constant and severe
pain," and needs an MRI scan to help with diagnosis — a procedure
that cannot be carried out in the embassy.

UK authorities have
refused to grant Assange "safe passage" to a hospital for the
scan.

Assange's lawyers are holding a press conference at noon on
Friday.

Assange legal team will respond to his reported UN victory at a press conference, noon GMT, at London's Front Line Club.